Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearingaquaticvertebrate (or craniate) animals that lack limbs with digits. Periyar Lake is home to a wide variety of freshwater fish species, many of them endemic to the Periyar landscape and to the Western Ghats. Local tribal communities are also dependant on a number of species for consumption, and fishing is permitted to a limited extent within the buffer zone of the Reserve. The full checklist of fish species found in Periyar Tiger Reserve is given below